1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for performing an image adjusting process, image processing method, program and storage medium thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an image processing apparatus performing an image adjusting process is known. For example, a technique that separates a scanned image into two areas, that is, text and halftone areas, applies an edge emphasis process to the text area, and applies a smoothing process to the halftone area so as to enhance the sharpness and to reduce moiré at the same time is available (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-077623).
However, since an adjusting process to be applied to an image generally depends on the attributes of that image, if the attribute of the image is determined erroneously, an appropriate adjusting process can no longer be applied. For example, if a smoothing process is applied to the text area or an edge emphasis process is applied to the halftone area, the image deteriorates. For example, if one part of a character is determined as a text area, and the remaining part of that character is determined as a halftone area, switching of the edge emphasis and smoothing processes occurs during one character, thus considerably deteriorating the image. In particular, conventionally, since the ON/OFF states of the adjusting processes such as the edge emphasis process and the like are switched according to the attributes of an image, no transition state exists. For example, an image deteriorates at the position where the processes are switched.